The Organization XIII Christmas
by AllynDupe
Summary: The Organization XIII and Christmas are two things that simply should not mix. And on this particular December, the madness that would occur is clearly depicted, by the clashing personalities of the members, and all the rush to prepare.


"C'mon, Xemnas, can we pllleeeaassseee?"

Xemnas cringed, shutting his eyes tightly and drumming his fingernails on the hard, wooden surface of their table, trying to drown out the whining of Number Nine.

However, Demyx was feeling particularly determined and decided he was going to push the envelope as much as he could for this cause. "Seriously. The Thirteen of us have been rooming together here for like, three years, and we haven't had Christmas not even once. We should actually make an effort this year! Please?"

Xemas glared at him. "Look, Demyx, we don't need the hassle."

Axel and Roxas popped up from behind Demyx like bread popping out of a toaster when it was done. They both held sheepish smiles as best they could, and Xemnas could suddenly feeling inevitable begging for Demyx's pathectic idea about to leave their mouths. It was almost as if it was approaching bad weather, as he simply waited for it to happen. And, as he was usually, he was right. It didn't take long for them to begin spouting what he considered "nonsense".

"At least consider it. Come on, we all want to...Well, except for you." Roxas spoke modestly, seeming a little frightened by the fact that Xemnas might want to rip off his head at any given point.

"Well, except maybe butt-kisser over there..." Axel nodded towards Saix who was not to far away conversing with Marluxia, referring to his endless support and loyalty to Xemnas. "But, anyway.." Axel said nervously, feeling Number One's cold glare, his eyes two freezing icecubes of scorn, on him. "We should do it this year, Manse--...I mean, Xemnas." Axel grinned in a way he hoped was apologetic and not comical, as he swallowed, waiting for a response.

And there was none. Xemnas rolled his eyes and turned his vision completely from the three pleading boys.

Their trio was soon joined by Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord. They all sat around the kitchen table and looked at Xemnas, and waited impatienly, tapping their feet and fingers on the table, clearing their throats and such. They did so until Xemnas had the decency to eye them slightly, just waiting for them to jump right into the discussion like a refreshing pool in the Summer.

Xigbar started, sounding extremely serious about something so unimportant. "Have some spirit, Xemnas. We've NEVER had Christmas. We gotta do it sometime, it won't be that big a hassle." He complained, crossing his arms and looking defiant, as his original three convincers still stared at him with some strange hope.

Xaldin mirrored Xigbar's expression in total, as he gave a little insight himself. "You won't have to do anything. I'll do the cooking." This was already something to be expected, Xaldin being the most decent cook around the house. However, in Xemnas's mind, simply Xaldin controlling one of the tasks didn't remove the giant mound of labour Christmas was said to cause. The tree, the food, the presents, the decorations...So much to do and in his opinion it was too close to Christmas day to be considering all that now.

"We don't even need presents!" Luxord added, sounding as desperate as the others. "It won't be that hard if we don't include all the gift buying, right?"

The rest of the remaining Organization XIII made their was over to the table. Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saix, Marluxia and Larxene. They stood by a second, exchanging glances with the rest of the occupants before beginning to bombard the frustrated leader with statements and thoughts related to Christmas.

"I'm sure we'll find time, and--"  
"You can assign us jobs! It'll be easy, then--"  
"Don't be a scrooge, you know you want to have--"

Unsure of what was going to happen next, Xemnas stood up, feeling inraged. Everyone went quiet and stared at him, almost expectantly. He paused, not to think about what he was going to tell them, only to examine their faces that looked a mixture of hopeful, ticked off, desperate, angry, sad...Et cetera. He barely registered his next move, like something stupid and careless you do in a game of chess that could cause you to lose the match. "...Fine, I suppose."

He saw the gloom lift from their faces like the sun rising on a day with horrible weather. However, before he let any excited voice erupt from an impatient throat, he raised his voice just a little more so it seemed very serious, something he wanted them to know. "As long as it's organized and nothing gets out of hand." Feeling and Acting like a Daycare supervisor amongst a group of small children, he set down the responsible, parent like rule.

They all began to converse and talk speedily and happily, as if some exciting, breaking news had been announced on the televison. Once it died down a little, Xemnas took charge again with his deep, comanding voice. "Line up. All of you."

Without question, everyone else lined up in order from two to thirteen. Xemnas paced back and forth in front of the silent assembly line. "We need to get all this done by Christmas day. Which means, we have today and and that's it. We are not bothering with presents. If we don't have our Christmas ready by the twenty fifth, the entire plan is off. Now, to assign everyone with jobs..." He seemed to ponder a minute, and no one else said anything for several minutes, while he gathered his thoughts and ideas inside his mind's eye. Then he turned he began to speak into the face of his twelve close friends.

"I will be respnsible for looking for that stupid tree. And I'll need some assistance."

Nobody said a word, for they lacked a chance. Saix raised his hand almost immidiatly after he digested the words that left the silver haired boy's lips. As usual, he was chosen to be Xemnas' sidekick for this strange, and particular event in their lives.

"Xigbar." He stood in front of Number Two, looking him in the eye. "You'll be responsible for putting up lights. Outside and inside the house." Saying nothing else, he moved on to Xaldin.

"You already know your assignment. You are to do the cooking and the baking. Marluxia, you are going to help Xaldin with this." Xemnas spoke sternly, moving down the row of anxious people like a tyrant and a line of chained slaves.

Vexen was next, and he looked nervous. He didn't want to have to do something that he would fins hard to do, and would probably do a terrible job of. "Vexen. You can clean the house to it's fullest. I want this place spotless so it looks nice." Vexen felt remorse fill him like water in a bathtub. Xemnas was an undeniable perfectionest, it was going to take forever to clean the entirety of the house to his liking in one day...!

"Lexaeus." Xemnas stated, examining Number Five's silent, serious face with thought. Then he spoke, the room deadly quiet, like a funeral. "You'll be in charge of decorating the Christmas tree once Saix and I return with it. Until then, you may help whomever you choose." Lexaeus had no expression change, and didn't say a single word.

"Zexion, I need to you go and buy decorations for the tree and the house, as well as white and colored lights. Big ones for outside, small for inside. We certainly have enough money." The short, uneasy number six, desperately hoped on the inside, that he would have at least one other person to asisst him in shopping. "Larxene, Luxord and Demyx are to help you." Relief swept his brain like an imaginary broom of joy, as he released a small and undetectable sigh.

He skipped Saix because he already had been assigned, and moved on straight to Axel. "When they return with the decorations, you are to do the house. Roxas will help you do that." Examining who was left on the line, he realized he had assigned everyone and stepped away.

"If you're all so eager, get started." He said, walking towards the key rack and snatching the keys to his car in one hand. "Come on, Saix." Xemnas said, taking a few steps toward the stairs as Saix ran on ahead to put on his shoes. "I expect to see some progress when I return home." The final sentance heard from him departed his lips, as he started down the stairs, keys jingling. Soon the door slammed, and eleven of the thirteen members remained.

"Um, we should go. Half the people here can't start if we don't bring back some stuff.." Zexion almost mumbled, starting towards the stairs and then proceeding down them to get his shoes and coat. Luxord followed absent mindedly, removing his car keys from the rack. Larxene and Demyx went the same way, nobody saying a word as the door was once again heard slamming.

Then there was seven.

Vexen glanced around the room, feeling the terrible realization fall over him like a sheet, but much heavier. Where would he honestly begin? There was three floors in the large house...Four bathrooms...Enough rooms for two or three people to share each one...There was too many places to possibly begin. He decided the best thing he could do would be to begin this dreadful cleaning expedition on the first floor and work his way up. He had to mop the floors, dust the pictures, shelves, tables...Do the dishes, clean the counters...Vexen, number four in the Organization, rushed off down the hallway, the immsense stress he was feeling showing on his facial features like it was written in marker.

Axel and Roxas stood by, looking and feeling like they didn't fit in at that particular time. Roxas stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching Xaldin hustle about gathering pots and pans and flour, butter, sugar,...Too many ingrediants to count. Marluxia stared at him, looking amazed at how fast he could haul together the contents of Christmas baking. He pushed past Roxas and went inside, getting prepared to help Number Three with an extremely long afternoon of working like a chefs assisitant.

Axel leaned against a wall, as he watched Lexaeus sit down on the couch with a book; his eyes beginning to scan over the words easily.

"Hey, why aren't you doing anything?" Axel questioned, eyeing him a little as he listened to Xaldin bark out commands to Marluxia like Boss to a simple Employee in a busy job.

"I am supposed to decorate our tree." He stated, looking up from the pages and digging into Axel's eyes like thorns into human flesh. "We have no tree, and we have no decorations. Use your imagination."

Axel laughed a little, turning his eyes to where he saw Vexen rushing into the hallway, hauling the mop and the bucket of water attached to a conveniant set of wheels along with him. Axel grinned mercilessly, as he realized he still had his heavy black boots on, from where he had been outside previously. Lifting one foot just as Vexen began to drag the mop none-too-neatly across the hardwood, Axel scuffed it down with as much force as possible, his dislike for Vexen manipulaing him like a puppet. A large black mark was left across the floor that stuck out like a elephant in a flock of sheep.

Vexen stared at him with disbelief. "..."

Axel grinned. "Oopsie."

Xigbar couldn't help but smirk, thinking about the difficulty of Vexen's job, and how cruel but funny it was to watch Axel try to mess him up for a hobby. But what could he do with his time? Lexaeus had a book to read. Marluxia and Xaldin now had the door to the kitchen jammed closed, and it was obvious they were well away at their work. Vexen was doing his best to start, but couldn't surpass the inevitable obstacle that was The Flurry of Dancing Flames. Roxas was content and amused watching everybody else around him, something he did often when a lot was happening at once. Xigbar began to ponder. He couldn't do the damn lights if he didn't have any; but he could count the windows. That was the main place for lights on the inside of the house, so it would be helpful to know. Being decided, Xigbar made his way past the complaining Vexen and laughing Axel, so he could go down the hall and get started.

_**~~XIII~~**_

Saix and Xemnas had stopped in a sales lot of real, chopped down potential Christmas trees, waiting to be purchased, after Xemnas had decided a real tree would be best, with much convincing of Saix, who was strongly against the perfection of an artificial tree, pushing him slowly and none-too-easily down the road of decision. However, all the nicest trees had already been lugged away to brighten someone's holiday, most of the ones that were left were rejects; the uglier looking ones that nobody deemed acceptable for the important occupation of Christmas Tree. Xemnas walked around, examining them throughally as the salesmen stood by, watching both him and Saix as they roamed around.

"What about this one, Xemnas?" Saix spoke loud enough for the silver haired boy to hear him, as he pointed to a tree that loomed high over his head, tall like a telephone pole. Xemnas made his way over, his tangerine colored eyes examining each and every one of it's branches, as Saix waited in suspence for his conclusion.

"Too tall." He said, and then walked on, carelessly.

Knowing he was endlessly hard to please, Saix's mind began to tell him about how long he was going to be here, how many trees they were going to pass through and pass on before Xemnas found the one that fed the gigantic jaws that were his need for perfection.

Saix came across another one that was well rounded, very green and looked like it would fit well into their living room because it was not "too tall" like the previous one.

He tapped on Xemnas' shoulder, who wasn't far away, and pointed. "I like this one."

Again, he acted like a Doctor with the tree as his patient, and the examination began. It took a little longer this time, and Saix somehow began to let his hopes sail high that Xemnas would actually give it a chance. However, he should have figured that Number One would not settle down that easily. He strangely had a firey ambition for finding the perfect tree, and that was not going to change anytime soon. "This one is way too short..."

Hoping that soon he would let up, Saix followed him miserably, the cold starting to set in on his bones upon realization that he would be here forever...

~~XIII~~

The mall was crazy madness, people rushing around, looking insane with last minute shopping. Zexion, Larxene, Luxord, and Demyx stood around looking dumbfounded and unsure. They had never been in a shopping center when madness this hard was developing, nor had they ever been Christmas shopping anyway. Thanking their lucky stars that presents weren't involved, they moved to a bench, dodging people and sat down together.

"So, what are we here for again?" Luxord questioned, leaning back on the mildly comfortable steel bench, waiting for the discussion to begin so they could gather a basic idea, instead of rushing off and buying whatever they could get their hands on.

"Um, we need lights, for outside and inside, and Decorations for the tree and the inside of the house..." Zexion stated, pulling out a crumpled list from his pocket that he must had written up in the car on their way over. "I decided that we'd probably get more done if we split up. So, me and Larxene will look for the tree and house decorations, and you two will look for the lights. Okay?' He stood up, jamming the list back from where it came.

Larxene stood. "Sounds fine to me, just as long as we aren't out here all day." She walked off alongside Zexion, leaving Demyx and Luxord alone to gather themselves. As Number Six and Number Twelve walked on, Zexion explained to her how he left the 'dumb ones' with finding lights, considering it was rather simple and he had decided that only God knew what they would return with if they had to search for decorations.

After dividing the money evenly between the four of them in the car, Zexion hoped desperately that Luxord and Demyx wouldn't spend their share pointlessly.

~~XIII~~

Lexaeus, back at the house, finished the fifth chapter in his book for that day already, just watching the madness unfold all around him. He wished he was somewhere else, as his head pounded relentlessly listening to all the hell. Roxas sat next to him, and it was evident he was feeling the same way.

Vexen was still attempting to mop the floor, and Axel was still doing his best to piss him off and stop him from getting the job done easily. They stood there arguing loudly enough for practically anyone across the ocean to hear every word.

"Stop doing that, you're really pissing me off!"  
"But I LIKE pissing you off. You don't seem to get that!"  
"Holy shit, you're the most irritating individual on the--"  
"Can you not use such big words? Why can't you just call me a jackass like a NORMAL PERSON?"  
"I use them because I know your simple mind won't understand them!"  
"My simple what?! Are you calling me a stupid, you asshole?"  
"Good for you, that didn't take long!"

Roxas held a pillow over his head, groaning, as Lexaeus shut his eyes tightly, trying to calm his raging brain. Everyone in the house knew those two despised eachother, but was this really necessary?

Then Xigbar emerged from the hall for the third time that afternoon, looking deep in thought, a look that soon made the transition to angry and annoyed combined, a pair of emotions often seen together when people were around Number Four and Number Eight at the same time. "I just lost count for the last fucking time!" He shouted, as everyone knew he was trying to knowledge himself of the many windows in his house, and it was difficult to acomplish considering everytime he entered the living room, the battle arena for Axel and Vexen's verbal war, he lost what exact number he had reached. Apparantly now it was the last straw.

"Look, Axel," He started, "Stop being a pain in Vexen's asshole. By doing that, you're being a pain to everyone else because you guys are arguing, and it's so damn annoying. Give me some fucking earplugs for Christmas, would ya?" Xigbar lurched forward and gave Axel a mighty shove on his chest, his anger obviously controlling him mildlessly.

Axel hadn't expected to shoved, and he came to him only when he was tumbling backwards from number two's force. The majority of the floor had now been successfully mopped, and it was wet with warm water and soap suds. When Axel hit the floor seconds later, he slid a small distance across this slick surface, just enough to bump into an end table that wasn't too far behind him. One that had a half full glass of Eggnog that Roxas had been drinking a couple of minutes before. The glass shook and trembled, like an earthquake had it held hostage. Teetering on the edge of falling, the glass of cream colored liquid finally gave in and toppled on it's side, all it's contents slipping over the dge and splattering on top of Axel's hair, rolling down his face and splotching the floor. The room fell into distant silence.

Axel looked more irritated then anyone else in the room, wiping the dribble of Eggnog that had begun to journey down the bridge of his nose, with his hand. Not a single noise dared threaten the quiet, until Vexen could obviously not hold back any longer. A long train of giggles erupted from his system, causing him to buckle over with laughter as more Eggnog trailed down Axel's face.

Xigbar, deciding he would rather the Flurry take his anger out on Vexen, hurried off down the hall once again.

Lexaeus and Roxas stared, unsure and a little bit afraid of what was about to happen, as Axel stood up off the floor. However, as Vexen continued laughing endlessly, leaning on the mop, Axel scuffed his boots all the way across the floor, leaving giant, thick black marks, one after the other. When he had made at least a dozen, he stopped walking all together, and stared at Vexen, a small smirk taking hold of his lips smugly. "Try laughing now."

It wasn't what Number Five and Number Thriteen had expected Axel to do, but it was better then somebody losing an arm or getting severe bodily burns.

Vexen stared, looking dumbfounded, before it mutated into extreme anger, and Axel's smug expression of triumph faded. "I'll certainly have the time to laugh," Vexen started, his voice frosty and his glare deathly. "When this mop is down your throat!"

It didn't take long for Axel to lunge for the closed kitchen door, and wrestle with the knob just as Vexen came at him with the cleaning instrument. Axel broke into a mad run once the door was open, the kitchen being the biggest room in the house. Unaware of the delicate surroundings in this room, Axel glanced back for a second to see if he was being persued. Gaining his answer from Vexen's grim face close behind, he turned his eyes back to his path, and suddenly he smacked into someone; either Marluxia of Xaldin. Either way, the kitchen was enveloped in a strange white powder, like room temperature snow exploding into the atmosphere.

It was impossible to see anything for a couple of moments, just like a white out. Eventually it cleared enough for Axel to see a dizzy, dazed looking Marluxia sitting on the floor near him, a now half full bag on flour sitting in his lap. The floor was covered, as well as the counters, the people, and any other piece of food Xaldin had prepared and layed out.

Xaldin looked like he was ready to pop a blood vessel, as he leaned heavily on one of the flour covered counters, shaking his head and grumbling what could have been various swear words.

Axel and Vexen had fallen to the floor, looking ghostly and coughing. Axel immediately glared at him after visibility was clear enough to depict facial emotions. "This is all your fault, you dick. If you hadn't chased me, I wouldn't have bumped into Marluxia!"

Vexen looked astonished upon this rediculous accusation, his mouth dropping open a second. "Me?! Well, if you hadn't scuffed up the floor I JUST cleaned, I wouldn't have gotten angry and chased you!"

It seemed Axel's thoughts didn't even process, he was that sure of making the point of his 'innocence'. "If you hadn't laughed your ass off at me, I wouldn't have scuffed up your oh-so-fucking-clean floor."

They continued to rip at eachothers throats, while Marluxia gradually regained his senses and Xaldin let his rage build.

Lexaeus and Roxas remained in the Living Room, unaware of what kind of crazy disaster had just went down in the kitchen. They were pretty positive they didn't want to know, as Axel and Vexen's crazed, angry voices still clashed and tore through the air. They hoped everything would sort itself out, like it usually did, all the time. For, if things didn't do that, they would probably all be long dead or arrested, for they were all rather arrogant sometimes...

~~XIII~~

"That one is much too bare on this side."

Only an hour of the venomous tree-picking torture had been endured by Saix, and he was already feeling like he would rather jump off a cliff then celebrate Christmas at all. Himself and Xemnas, had already been through at least four or five lots of chopped down real trees, and they had been through the reasons and complaints, "Too tall," and "Too short," "Too ratty," and now, "Too bare." Saix had also forced himself to face through "too skinny," "too fat" and "too ugly".

"Come ON Xemnas..." Saix pleaded, looking into his eyes, the power of exaustion and annoyance fueling his words. "I'm really tired. Can we just pick a tree? It doesn't have to be perfect, you know...Any tree will be fine, don't you think?"

Xemnas looked square at him, deep into his eyes, trying to understand the meaning of what he was saying. Deciding it was either "I'm tired and irritated and I want to go home." Or, "Christmas will be great no matter what kind of tree we have," Either way, Xemnas felt pretty cold and exausted himself. So, he finally decided on a tree, trying to make things a little simpler. This tree they decided to purchase, in the bitter end, was an excellent tree. It was not too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, too bare, too ugly or too ratty. It was artificial.

Although feeling like he wasted one hour of his life browsing the real trees, Saix was simply glad to be in the car, on his way home, and with a tree, whether it was artificial or not.

Xemnas simply wondered how things were working out back at his living space, as an odd, mediocre, stranger of a feeling, told him solumnly that eveything was unfolding horribly. Truly disaster like.

~~XIII~~

Larxene and Zexion stood by the bench the four friends had agreed to meet in an hour. They carried several bags each, all of them reeked with holiday cheer, decorations galore. The weight was unbearble, they had used their money extremely well, and still had some left, in th bitter end. Both of them desperately hoped Demyx and Luxord decided to be responsible for once, and that they would have lots of lights when they arrived.

It didn't take long for both boys to appear in vision's path, strolling casually and looking pretty pleased with themselves. They carried one bag; so it was instantly wondered if they had done any shopping at all. The group re-joined easily, and both Zexion and Larxene stared hard at the other pair.

"Well?" Larxene began, a small, intense glare furrowing her brow. "Where's the evidence of your shopping?"

Both boys stared back, dumbfounded. However, Luxord was the first to speak, removing the one simple item from the single bag he carried. It was a package of three lightbulbs. "We couldn't find any Christmas lights, so...I bought these...One of the bulbs in my room blew yesterday anyway."

Zexion opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a soft, barely audiable 'meow'. "What in God's name was that?" He questioned, suddenly glaring accusingly at Demyx and Demyx alone.

Demyx looked sheepish for an instant, before unzipping his coat to remove a tiny, grey kitten, with feirce yellow eyes and very long whiskers. "I couldn't resist, Zexi...Sorry. She was too cute to turn down, when I saw her in the pet store, I just..--"

"So, you spent your share of the money on LIGHTBULBS and a CAT?" Larxene looked and sounded infuriated. She shoved the bags she carried at Zexion, her eyes glimmering with a strange evil. "Here, Zexion, take my bags to the car. I have to give these boys a little shopping boot camp." Without even waiting for Zexion, who was swamped now with bags from various stores, to respond or agree, Larxene clamped down on one ear of both boys like a ticked off crab and began dragging them along, lecturing them about something Number Six couldn't make out over all the other noise. Now he supposed he had to go to the car and wait inside...They wouldn't have been a problem for him, if he had any idea at all how he was going to manage to carry all the Christmas luggage...

~~XIII~~

Back at the house, things had just begun to settle down. Marluxia got busy at saving however much of the food that was possible, as Xaldin sat both Vexen and Axel down at the kitchen table, beginning to lecture the on how they were acting like six year olds, and how they were being disrespectful. As he ranted and rambled, he held a sharp looking, stainless steel knife in one hand, and this fact caused neither of the persecuted boys to even consider trying to leave.

Lexaeus, now on Chapter nine in his book, still remained pushed away from the main action, to his satisfaction.

Roxas did the same, clutching his head and feeling strangely under the weather from all the former madness. The thick mist from it all still hovered about; everyone in the house was starting to worry extremely. Xemnas could be home at any time, depending on what kind of tree they wanted to get, whether it be real or artificial, and how long Number One spent picking it out. They had already been gone over an hour, and paranoia was beginning to lock into place. Xaldin and Marluxia had already been started, well on their way. However, thanks to the idiocy of Vexen and Axel, the majority of their hard work had been flushed down the toilet.

Vexen had tried to clean the floor several times, only to be interuppted by Axel one to many of those times. Now, his once mopped floor had dribbles of Eggnog in one corner, and dark, black marks all over.

Axel, Roxas and Lexaeus had nothing they could be doing, and they prayed that The Superior would not be argumentive and upset with them for not giving others a hand.

Xigbar had finally, successfully counted all the window; to his dismay there was thirty five all together on all the floors. Now all he could do was wait for their little shopping squad to return with lights so he could get started himself.

The door swung open, and any noise that had been brewing and stirring in the household, ceased and seemingly eternal silence floated in from the walls and took hold.

Soon, a tree appeared at the top of the stairs, presumably there were people behind it. People like Xemnas and Saix, who proceeded to carry it all the way into the living room, and lay their perfect artificial tree to rest on the hardwood, on it's side.

Lexaeus and Roxas stared at them, looking sheepish. Xemnas seemed to think for a moment, and when he decided that both of them couldn't have done anything because of lack of supplies, he travelled into the kitchen.

What he saw astonished him. A guilty looking Axel and Vexen. An angry looking Xaldin, with a knife. And a disappointed looking Marluxia, staring straight at him. The kitchen was still a terrible mess of flour; looking like someone had dropped a bomb full of the stuff.

Anger surged through Number One's system, as he started to demand what happened, and began preparing himself to give the biggest lecture of his years.

He quickly gathered all the company occupying the house, and sat them down in the living room. Opening his mouth to speak, he didn't let one furious word escape his system, before the front door banged open once again and he figured it was the rest of the Organization. Larxene was the first one up the stairs, several bags in her company. She looked strangely pleased with herself, a grim look of pride and triumph veiled her face.

The three boys she had been sent out with, Demyx, Zexion and Luxord--Came up the stairs all mimicing the same expression. They looked like they had just witnessed frightful murder, or had just been forced into doing a terrible, terrifying deed...Simply like they had been forced through something awful. Luxord carried the other half of the bags, and he dropped them on the floor when he walked in, the expression that told a scary story not fading.

"Um, what's up with those three?" Roxas questioned, feeling confused as to why they hadn't spoken a word and that they seemed so...Dead.

"Oh, I had to give Demyx and Luxord a first hand lesson in properly shopping." Larxene's grin increased, her voice dripping with tainted, cruel emotion that seemed to fuel a lot of her daily actions.

"...What about Zexion?"

"Oh, right," She continued, beginning to unload what was contained in one of the bags onto the flour covered kitchen table. "Considering Luxord was so...Disfunctional after my little lesson at the mall, he was kind of unable to drive. And since shorty here," She nodded towards Zexion, "Probably can't reach the gas peddle, I had to drive."

"But Larxene..." Roxas' voice seemed shocked. "You don't have your license!"

"And thus we have our answer, hm?" Again she gestured towards Zexion, smiling cruelly and continuing with the unloading.

"Anyway, sit down, all of you. Disfunctional or not, everyone's going to listen, because I have several complaints." Xemnas finally began, after the long interuption by his shopping party. Larxene shooed her tortured boys to the couchs and chairs in the living room and then joined in herself, all thirteen members waiting to hear Xemnas' long list of complaints.

"I told you from the very beginning, that this must be organized. It is not. The mess in the kitchen in rediculous, nothing is clean, almost all the food is ruined...And it's Christmas Eve. If you all really think that we can still make it, after all this nonesence, go ahead and try. I'd like to see what you can do. Too many more slip ups, and we're done with Christmas...For this year and all the rest to come." Xemnas' expression was firm, looking hard like some kind of angry stone figure. Everyone else knew he was serious, and a dreadful question rested on the air; would they actually be able to rush into this and get it all done? Xemnas stopped pacing in front of the tense group and strolled to his Christmas tree. "I'm going to need help setting this up. Lexaeus,"

Nothing more had to be said, Number Five was up in a flash, lifting the tree and starting to prepare it. Xemnas looked to the remainder of the crowd. "Get going, if you want it all that badly. You did in the first place."

Everyone else began slowly shuffling off, knowing what their jobs were, and easily pushing themselves away to begin.

Roxas knew he shared a job with his best friend, Axel, they had to decorate all around the house. He figured it would be extremely favorable to keep the firey red-head out of Vexen's way this time; it could avoid several mistakes, shouting voices and flour explosions. Everytime Vexen got near enough for Axel to get tempted into irritation, Roxas did whatever it took to distract him. Whether it be whipping out an awesome, seasonal decoration he hadn't layed eyes on yet, so he could fuss over it and then where to put it, or if it would be pulling him into a casual kiss, something both boys enjoyed sharing with eachother often.

Xaldin and Marluxia, were still extremely disappointed in all their soiled food. Only saving a few of the dishes and baked goods, both boys began to start fresh, as Vexen starting mopping up and obliterating the mess around them. Zexion, Luxord and Demyx, after recovering from their seemingly mild trauma, entered the large room, glancing around and realizing this was something that really needed work on. Food was one of the biggest and most important tasks, and there was Thriteen people living under one roof---That was a lot of meals. Not much thought was needed for the three boys to realize they would be of much use helping around the kitchen. They jumped right in, Luxord and Zexion assisting Xaldin with all the heavy-duty cooking, while Demyx gave Marluxia a little hand with the baking.

Xemnas was surprised to see everyone getting along...For probably the first time since they had all decided to live together. It was a pathetic truth, but something he certainly couldn't deny. Lexaeus had gotten the tree up in it's stand, and Xemnas examined it from afar. "Turn it a little to the left.."

Lexaeus did so, without a word.

"A little more."

His orders were still obidently followed by Lexaeus, although to him, the tree looked the same on every side. It was artificial, after all.

"A tiny bit more."

Lexaeus did so and back away from the tree, admiring it himself.

"Actually...Can you turn it right?"

Saix noticed that Lexaeus' nerves seemed to be in short supply after the long day, so he quickly moved over to Xemnas and draped an arm around his shoulders casually. "Hey, uh, Xemnas...Let's go see how Xigbar and Larxene are doing with the lights..." He gently led Xemnas away, trying to avoid unessicary grief.

Considering all job occupations had been filled in the kitchen, and practically everywhere else, Larxene felt obliged to help Xigbar do the lights nicely throughout all the windows. It was a difficult and frustrating job for certain, not something she wanted to spend her time doing, but she feared Xemnas chewing off her head if she did nothing.

While Xemnas was absent from the living room, Lexaeus began to cover it in decorations, beautiful bulbs and crystal reindeer, small wooly ornaments and beautiful wooden crafts, hanging them gently and serenely on each fuzzy green branch, trying to do his best so there would be no more unneeded complaints.

The madness was finally beginning to hault, as much as it was very hard to believe. Everyone stayed out of eachothers way and allowed things to be completed, and it had been 6:32 PM when Xemnas shooed them away to their tasks for the second time that day...And it wasn't until 12:00 AM when everything had fallen into place nicely.

Nearly too tired to fuction and feeling disciplined beyond belief, the twelve boys and one girl that made up the hectic, apocolyptic group, Organization XIII, stood in the center of the living room.

Shortbread cookies, peanut butter cookies, ginger bread men and chocolate fudge had been baked by Demyx and Marluxia. Turkey, Ham, Potatoes and Rice, and pretty much any other thing Xaldin could get his head around making in one night, had also been prepared, and a worthwhile feast was waiting briskly for the morrow.

It turns out Larxene and Xigbar only had enough lights for the first floor windows, outside, and half of the second floor windows. However, that was good enough for them, although Xemnas forced them to remove the half done job on the second floor, for something uneven was so obviously his worst enemy.

Roxas and Axel swept the house away in Holiday dreams, holly, mistletoe, wreaths, bows, plastic images of Santa Claus, Reindeer and elves...The house had never looked so different. It was clean, although Vexen had only gotten around to making the first floor spotless and decent enough for Xemnas. Also it was decorated, and the Christmas tree glistened and glimmered with a gorgeous glow in the corner of the living room, topping everything off perfectly.

As they all stood there, still shocked of all their progress and how they had done it all before Christmas, nobody said a word. The silence was long thirsted for and extremely satisfactory. However, one simple voice saying three simple words was enough to break open this quiet. "Merry Christmas, everyone." Marluxia said, smiling although his voice was weighed down with exhaustion.

This holiday greeting was echoed eleven more times, by everyone in the Organization but Xemnas. Everyone looked to him skeptically, waiting for his voice to mirror the rest of theirs, and wondering if it would happen at all.

Xemnas looked around at all the beautiful decorations, dazzling lights and the amazing tree...And he felt some sort of warm feeling flush over him. It could have been love, it could have been Christmas Spirit, it could have even been the need to flop into bed and hibernate. Whatever it was, he felt acomplished and strangely fluttery and happy inside. Eager grins and hopeful eyes locked all over him, and after deciding for himself that he would never get to go to sleep if he didn't, Xemnas finally let himself say the phrase he never thought he would ever let leave his lips:

"...Merry Christmas."

Have a Merry Organization XIII Christmas! //END.


End file.
